Category Archives: Alcohol

It was just a few months ago we learned that you’ll die of cancer if you tipple. Well, a new study says you can counteract the carcinogenic alcohol with adequate physical activity.

A story at CNN tells us how much exercise it takes :

“Specifically, they looked at the impact of the recommended amount of weekly exercise for adults, which is 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. That includes brisk walking, swimming and mowing the lawn, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. HHS also advises strength training for all major muscle groups at least twice a week.”

“Heavy drinking has well-defined adverse effects, but we’re told that moderate drinking of a couple drinks daily may be protective when it comes to heart disease.Moderate drinking may be protective, or there may just be an association among intelligence, health, and drinking. And the protective effect of alcohol with regard to heart disease is typically seen in older populations and/or those who have a high background risk of heart disease.If you’re in-shape and/or less than old, alcohol probably won’t decrease your risk of heart disease.

However, moderate drinking can cause other illnesses, including cancer.I’m forced to conclude that the benefits of alcohol have been overblown. However, in moderate drinking, the risks may be small — nonetheless, they are there.

Don’t fool yourself that your moderate drinking is good for you. It facilitates social interaction, makes you temporarily less anxious — but good for your health? Seems doubtful.”

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Is the arsenic in the irrigation water, pesticides, or introduced during processsing?

A class-action lawsuit in California claims that certain wines have dangerously high levels of arsenic that could cause cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes. USA Today has one of the ubiquitous stories outlining the few details we know at this point.

Comments here refer to chronic low-dose exposure; acute high dose poisoning is another can o’ worms.

First, see your doctor for a history and physical exam and let her know you’re worried about arsenic. If arsenic poisoning remains a possibility, lab testing is usually a 24-hour urine collection for arsenic, or spot urine for arsenic and creatinine. “Spot” in this context means a random single specimen, not a 24-hour collection. For the 48 to 72 hours before either of those tests, don’t eat fish, seaweed, or shellfish.

What about testing hair for arsenic? In general, it’s not accurate.

Bottom Line

At this point, if you or someone you love drinks wine, I suggest simply keeping an eye on this story as it develops. We need more facts. The whole thing could blow over, with nothing coming of it. One of the brands mentioned is Sutter Home, one of my favorites.

Wine is a time-honored component of the healthy Mediterranean diet and probably contributes to the longevity seen with Mediterranean-style eating. That’s why wine is an option on my Advanced Mediterranean Diet, Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet, and Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet. Folks new to wine-drinking are confused by the myriad wine varieties and don’t know which kind to get. This post should help separate the wheat from the chaff. Wine snobs typically think “the more expensive the wine, the better.” But are they right?

A couple years ago, someone gave me an expensive bottle of champagne that I’d never had before. I won’t mention the brand because I’m not looking for trouble. The brand is iconic and a bottle costs $150-200 (USD). The more you pay, the better it should be, right?

I’m no expert on champagne, but this stuff was awful. Had the bottle simply gone bad? Too old? My wife had drunk this champagne several times before in business settings, and said this flavor was typical. It was a real eye-opener for me.

In 2001, researcher Frédéric Brochet invited 54 wine experts to give their opinions on what were ostensibly two glasses of different wine: one red, and one white. In actuality, the two wines were identical, with one exception: the “red” wine had been dyed with food coloring.

The experts described the “red” wine in language typically reserved for characterizing reds. They called it “jammy,” for example, and noted the flavors imparted by its “crushed red fruit.” Not one of the 54 experts surveyed noticed that it was, in fact a white wine.

In blind taste tests, long-time smokers can’t tell their brand from any of the competitors and wine connoisseurs have a hard time telling $200 bottles from $20 ones. When presented microwaved food from the frozen food section in the setting of a fine restaurant, most people never notice. Taste is subjective, which is another way of saying you are not so smart when it comes to choosing one product over another. All things equal, you refer back to the advertising or the packaging or conformity with your friends and family. Presentation is everything.

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…according to an article in The Guardian. This finding is from the PREDIMED study of Spaniards aged 50 to 88. Those who drank between two and seven glasses of wine per week were less prone to develop depression.